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Kamisama
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Post by helios969 on Apr 19, 2021 6:51:22 GMT
Imagine barrels made from materials too tough to machine today. For example beryllium-bronze-alloy, with barrels made of that you could get several times the service life and magnitudes better heat resistance than normal steel barrels, allowing totally new firearm concepts. Seems like that would be too ductile for barrels but I don't have good familiarity with its properties. Also if there's any chance of the beryllium leaching out over time that would be undesirable from a health perspective. I'm sure we'll create many new alloys in the next couple hundred years superior to what we currently utilize. Computational modelling has already led to new material discoveries with unique properties and that's still limited by current tech.
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Post by KaiserShep on Apr 19, 2021 9:52:15 GMT
If it means anything, the way barrels would function in real guns would be drastically different from the way they’d function for mass effect weapons, since they don’t actually fire bullets as we know them, nor are they propelled like they are.
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Post by biggydx on Apr 19, 2021 13:41:20 GMT
If it means anything, the way barrels would function in real guns would be drastically different from the way they’d function for mass effect weapons, since they don’t actually fire bullets as we know them, nor are they propelled like they are. The propulsion mechanism is different, but you're still generating a lot of heat due to friction. This friction, even with a grain sized projectile, is going to be quite high since these projectiles travel at 0.x times the speed of light. In addition, the weapon itself needs to generate the electricity (via battery) needed to activate the mass effect field that propels the projectile. It's why the overheat system existed in Mass Effect 1. One thing that could make barrels more structurally stable, when printed in the ME universe, is that machining and fabrication utilizes mass effect field to obtain material structures that are more compact. This is in addition to their lattice structures being more conducive to high tensile, stress/strain, and temperature environments. Maybe helios would like to chime in on this one.
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Post by RedCaesar97 on Apr 20, 2021 0:02:51 GMT
I think I get what you guys mean, and you make a good point. Removing weapon levels would essentially remove the scaling of increased enemy hitpoints, which the player would need to keep up with by leveling up their weapons to increase their damage output. If weapon levels were removed, it would take longer and longer to whittle down enemy health as it increases during the course of the game, since enemies get stronger as the player levels up. If you remove weapon levels, you must also remove enemy scaling. All enemies would have static health/defense values throughout the whole game. This is not necessarily a bad thing. This would mean the player would only get stronger throughout the game while the enemies remain static. With RPG systems like powers and various stat boosts, ideally, you want players to feel like their powers and weapons get stronger. ME2 and ME3 had enemy scaling along with weapon and power scaling through upgrades and stat boosts. The trick is to scale both enemies and the players so the player gets stronger, but to scale the enemies so the scaling is not so skewed in the player's favor. ME1 failed at this since the player can outscale the enemies regardless of difficulty. Not sure if power scaling or weapon scaling is harder. For static enemies, the player only gets better with stat boosts. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but you may need to favor enemy values over the player feels the weapon and power stat boosts are helping instead of making the player overpowered. For example, if enemies have static values, should rank 1 Overload strip basic shields without any other damage bonuses? - If yes, then what should be the point of damage boosts? To strip stronger shields? Would that be too powerful? Should damage boosts be removed then? - If no, then does Overload feel useless if it cannot do anything at rank 1? I feel like weapons are easier to figure out with static enemy values than powers, but that is not to say it cannot be done. I am not against static enemy values. It is just another thing to consider. Or maybe I think about this too much. Some interesting ideas. I think some of these could absolutely work.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2021 14:10:01 GMT
Fantastic discussion!
Regarding static enemies, I do believe it is better to have a base value for common enemies that never changes. They can however have upgraded armor/weaponry, but their stats, health and base shields shouldn't scale.
As the game progresses, to keep the enemy relevant you will need to introduce elite troops, at first as leaders of the mooks, later as squads of their own. There can be a boss variant of each tier of enemy as well.
I guess I just don't want to get killed by Drowners when Geralt is leveled and carrying the best swords, because I was careless and this Drowner could now easily take down an entire town on its own due to level scaling.
A husk is a husk is a husk, is my gist. Husks could wear armor. Maybe not guns, but could have been equipped with melee weapons, in addition to their atomic propensities as Abominations. Enemies, if they are going to be realistic, shouldn't become harder to kill without an in-game explanation and the mechanics to back it up.
Regarding Gil's suggestions about enemy AI, perception distance, etc - lots of computing on the heartbeats, but I wouldn't think modern processors would choke on that. It is definitely more work though.
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Post by sassafrassa on Apr 29, 2021 17:10:35 GMT
I don't think we need lots of weapons just for the sake of it, just to have weapons that have minor stat boosts over other ones. Each weapon should be unique in its utility. So we don't need a lot. I think Mass Effect 2 actually did this very well for the most part and while I'm a ME1 fanboy this is something I much prefer about ME2. The weapons are few but each one is very distinct and synergizes better with this playstyle or that, but not all of them. We don't need loot for the sake of it.
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Spectr61
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Post by Spectr61 on Apr 29, 2021 17:55:15 GMT
ME3 was OK, ME3MP better. Not perfect, but with all the gimps and buffs over the myriad updates, still good.
One thing though, either stick with reload cancelling, or don't allow it.
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Post by mtheillusive on Apr 29, 2021 20:05:40 GMT
By the end of Mass Effect 3, there are multiple beam weapons, heavy weapons, etc. that are being introduced to the Council races for the first time (eg Prothean assault beam rifle). Similarly, you have access to new tech for weapons, whether it is a beam weapon or a sticky grenade automatic sniper rifle.
This means that the guns and gameplay should be drastically improved, different, and far more destructive.
On top of that, the surviving Milky Way races and terrorists have knowledge on how to build a weapon of galactic mass destruction: The Crucible.
Whether it takes place in the Milky Way, Andromeda, or both...ME5 should be a very different type of warfare when it comes to guns and wmds
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Post by bloodmagereaver on May 5, 2021 2:42:22 GMT
Well...
I for one prefer weapon heat cooldown over thermal clips.
In Andromeda it made no sense that you could ressuply thermal clips on a goddamn Kett spaceship much less that every Angaran and Kett weaponry got adapted to thermal clips by the Initiative.
Not just that but remnant weaponry using heat cooldowns completely outclassed the thermal cliped ones. I am looking at you PAW rifle.
What kills thermal clips on the next ME game for me is that it takes place much further in the future and technological improvements in weapon heat control would make thermal clip damage bonus irrelevant.
The entire logic behind thermal clips was being able to increase projectile velocity with greater heat that could be dumped on an expendable heat sink.
With 600 years of weaponry development the improved performance from thermal clips would fade before rechargeable heat sinks that could do more damage without sacrificing near unlimited ammo.
Gameplay wise it's also better to have your character control you heat absorbtion carefully than scrouging for ammunition dropped by enemies.
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Post by Giant Ambush Beetle on May 6, 2021 0:13:07 GMT
By the end of Mass Effect 3, there are multiple beam weapons, heavy weapons, etc. that are being introduced to the Council races for the first time (eg Prothean assault beam rifle). Similarly, you have access to new tech for weapons, whether it is a beam weapon or a sticky grenade automatic sniper rifle. Yep, more direct energy weapons, smart multi-purpose grenade launchers, tiny explosive drones - and maybe even portable railguns? In ME large ships were equipped with railguns, I can imagine 600 years of downsizing that tech could lead to small portable versions of it (of course with FAR less power). Would be neat to be able to shoot enemies hiding behind extremely thick cover like multiple concrete walls.
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Post by KaiserShep on May 6, 2021 0:26:19 GMT
Well... I for one prefer weapon heat cooldown over thermal clips. In Andromeda it made no sense that you could ressuply thermal clips on a goddamn Kett spaceship much less that every Angaran and Kett weaponry got adapted to thermal clips by the Initiative. Not just that but remnant weaponry using heat cooldowns completely outclassed the thermal cliped ones. I am looking at you PAW rifle. What kills thermal clips on the next ME game for me is that it takes place much further in the future and technological improvements in weapon heat control would make thermal clip damage bonus irrelevant. The entire logic behind thermal clips was being able to increase projectile velocity with greater heat that could be dumped on an expendable heat sink. With 600 years of weaponry development the improved performance from thermal clips would fade before rechargeable heat sinks that could do more damage without sacrificing near unlimited ammo. Gameplay wise it's also better to have your character control you heat absorbtion carefully than scrouging for ammunition dropped by enemies. Yes, I really hated thermal clips, and similarly just did not like the ammo crate system of Andromeda. These things are visually disruptive and just feel way too arcade-y.
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Post by ahglock on May 6, 2021 1:14:16 GMT
I could have gone for a split the difference system. Have all weapons work like ME1, but provide a very limited supply of thermal clips that aren't looted but maybe resupply on their own over a very long cool down. Game mechanic wise it would be a button to click to bypass a overheat timer, with a long cooldown. Lore wise you in the field swap your overheating thermal clip with a fresh one. The stress on the heat sink of pulling a hot one out takes a long time to recover from so its a long recharge.
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Post by Unicephalon 40-D on May 6, 2021 11:36:17 GMT
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Shattered Steel, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Anthem
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Post by ahglock on May 6, 2021 14:26:35 GMT
I don't want energy weapons as the norm, it would stop feeling like mass effect to me.
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Post by RedCaesar97 on May 7, 2021 18:24:30 GMT
Put me clearly down into the "all heat sink weapons and no overheat weapons" camp. Generally I prefer heat sink mechanics in the Mass Effect games over the overheat mechanics.
ME1 could get away with overheat since each weapon type all fired the same (all sniper rifles fired the same, all assault rifles fired the same, and so on). Once you start trying to make each weapon unique, heat sinks work better as "ammo" to help make each weapon feel unique. Ammo is one way of helping to balance weapons.
ME3 had some overheat weapons, as did MEA. The balancing never felt right. But both games had an issue with weapon tiers which basically screwed over any hope of balance though.
That is not to say that you could not make overheat weapons work differently and make them fairly balanced, I just think it makes it harder to do so. Thermal clips (or "ammo") is just another manageable resource like power cooldowns.
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Post by AnDromedary on May 7, 2021 18:52:39 GMT
I think I get what you guys mean, and you make a good point. Removing weapon levels would essentially remove the scaling of increased enemy hitpoints, which the player would need to keep up with by leveling up their weapons to increase their damage output. If weapon levels were removed, it would take longer and longer to whittle down enemy health as it increases during the course of the game, since enemies get stronger as the player levels up. If you remove weapon levels, you must also remove enemy scaling. All enemies would have static health/defense values throughout the whole game. This is not necessarily a bad thing. This would mean the player would only get stronger throughout the game while the enemies remain static. With RPG systems like powers and various stat boosts, ideally, you want players to feel like their powers and weapons get stronger. ME2 and ME3 had enemy scaling along with weapon and power scaling through upgrades and stat boosts. The trick is to scale both enemies and the players so the player gets stronger, but to scale the enemies so the scaling is not so skewed in the player's favor. ME1 failed at this since the player can outscale the enemies regardless of difficulty. Not sure if power scaling or weapon scaling is harder. For static enemies, the player only gets better with stat boosts. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but you may need to favor enemy values over the player feels the weapon and power stat boosts are helping instead of making the player overpowered. For example, if enemies have static values, should rank 1 Overload strip basic shields without any other damage bonuses? - If yes, then what should be the point of damage boosts? To strip stronger shields? Would that be too powerful? Should damage boosts be removed then? - If no, then does Overload feel useless if it cannot do anything at rank 1? I feel like weapons are easier to figure out with static enemy values than powers, but that is not to say it cannot be done. I am not against static enemy values. It is just another thing to consider. Or maybe I think about this too much. Some interesting ideas. I think some of these could absolutely work. There is one more layer to this though IMO. Yes, you want the player character to get stronger but you also want the difficulty to increase, rather than decrease as the game progresses. Ideally, you do this by giving the player tougher scenarios to work through, either by giving them stronger enemy types to fight or situation where more enemies are around at once.
This however has always been an issue with open world games or also with BioWare games, which allow you to play most missions in any order. So the devs cannot design a particular mission in the context of game progression.
One open world game, which did this really well IMO is Gothic (1 and 2). Here, strong enemy types were actually used to gate the player's progress in the open world (and additionally, stronger enemies would spawn at the beginning of new chapters as the player progressed through the story in order to keep backtracking interesting). That felt very antural and IMO was much better than the standard enemy scaling as used in so many other games (including most of BW's, Bethesda's and Ubisoft's RPGs).
If BW wants to keep the structure where they have some open areas and some more lnear mission ares (like in Andromeda for example), IMO the best solution wud be to gate areas of the open ares through strong enemies that can only fight later (thus you can only explore the open worlds bit by bit and sometimes have to return when you are stronger) and in the linear levels, players should actually encounter different enemy types, depending on the level at which they are when they start this mission. Granted, it would add some design effort but it would also add a more immersive feel and also replay value as what you encounter in the mission can change from one playthrough to another as you change the order in which you do those missions.
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Post by KaiserShep on May 9, 2021 1:47:43 GMT
If you remove weapon levels, you must also remove enemy scaling. All enemies would have static health/defense values throughout the whole game. This is not necessarily a bad thing. This would mean the player would only get stronger throughout the game while the enemies remain static. With RPG systems like powers and various stat boosts, ideally, you want players to feel like their powers and weapons get stronger. ME2 and ME3 had enemy scaling along with weapon and power scaling through upgrades and stat boosts. The trick is to scale both enemies and the players so the player gets stronger, but to scale the enemies so the scaling is not so skewed in the player's favor. ME1 failed at this since the player can outscale the enemies regardless of difficulty. Not sure if power scaling or weapon scaling is harder. For static enemies, the player only gets better with stat boosts. Again, not necessarily a bad thing, but you may need to favor enemy values over the player feels the weapon and power stat boosts are helping instead of making the player overpowered. For example, if enemies have static values, should rank 1 Overload strip basic shields without any other damage bonuses? - If yes, then what should be the point of damage boosts? To strip stronger shields? Would that be too powerful? Should damage boosts be removed then? - If no, then does Overload feel useless if it cannot do anything at rank 1? I feel like weapons are easier to figure out with static enemy values than powers, but that is not to say it cannot be done. I am not against static enemy values. It is just another thing to consider. Or maybe I think about this too much. Some interesting ideas. I think some of these could absolutely work. There is one more layer to this though IMO. Yes, you want the player character to get stronger but you also want the difficulty to increase, rather than decrease as the game progresses. Ideally, you do this by giving the player tougher scenarios to work through, either by giving them stronger enemy types to fight or situation where more enemies are around at once.
This however has always been an issue with open world games or also with BioWare games, which allow you to play most missions in any order. So the devs cannot design a particular mission in the context of game progression.
One open world game, which did this really well IMO is Gothic (1 and 2). Here, strong enemy types were actually used to gate the player's progress in the open world (and additionally, stronger enemies would spawn at the beginning of new chapters as the player progressed through the story in order to keep backtracking interesting). That felt very antural and IMO was much better than the standard enemy scaling as used in so many other games (including most of BW's, Bethesda's and Ubisoft's RPGs).
If BW wants to keep the structure where they have some open areas and some more lnear mission ares (like in Andromeda for example), IMO the best solution wud be to gate areas of the open ares through strong enemies that can only fight later (thus you can only explore the open worlds bit by bit and sometimes have to return when you are stronger) and in the linear levels, players should actually encounter different enemy types, depending on the level at which they are when they start this mission. Granted, it would add some design effort but it would also add a more immersive feel and also replay value as what you encounter in the mission can change from one playthrough to another as you change the order in which you do those missions. Inquisition did this as well. There were some areas in the Hinterlands where enemies would kick the shit out of you if you wandered in at too low a level, especially certain rifts.
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Post by Polka Dot on May 10, 2021 17:24:54 GMT
I generally prefer the overheat mechanic. That said, how about a hybrid? Maybe something like this: -- A device that would be like 2 thermal clips butted end to end that is inserted in the weapon with half of it sticking out the side. -- The side that is currently inside the weapon is absorbing heat (active), while the part sticking out is cooling. -- The reload function would slide the device to put the cooled side inside the weapon (to become active) and the hot side would then be outside the weapon to cool. The goal is for it to be done in such a way that: -- Those who want to manage overheating could still do so. Weapons would cool down because the active heat sink would conduct heat to the part that is sticking out of the weapon and cooling. -- Those who appreciate the satisfying click of reloading could still employ that mechanic. There could be a mod to upgrade the system by either giving it more segments (make it a little longer so it could be swapped quicker) or that uses a higher-tech heat sink w/ better cooling properties. It might look something like this (except designed by actual artists): ... so when you hit the reload, the device would slide through the weapon and stick out on the other side. They wouldn't necessarily need to implement that sliding motion in the game, but it might be kinda cool if they did.
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Post by Radec on May 11, 2021 23:06:33 GMT
That is not to say that you could not make overheat weapons work differently and make them fairly balanced, I just think it makes it harder to do so. Thermal clips (or "ammo") is just another manageable resource like power cooldowns. As an aside, the newer Battlefront games had all overheat weapons and managed a reasonable degree of variety. I'm not against them in ME, but they should be canonically weaker in power and sustained rate of fire than the thermal clip weapons, as the lore states. So say you have your M7 Lancer and M8 Avenger. Similar guns (basically evolutions of the same design), give them the same (cyclic) Rate of fire, accuracy, handling etc, but the former is overheat but has 25% weaker DPS due to older overheat tech. The player then decides if they trade off damage and sustained fire for an infinite "ammo" weapon that is weaker. Of course it worked nothing like that in ME3/A because of the goofy tier system (M7 was far better in every stat due to being an Ultra Rare to the Avenger's Common), but that was never a good idea anyway, as you say.
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Post by shotgunjulia on Jun 8, 2021 20:45:53 GMT
I'd like to know about the muzzle velocities of the rifles and sidearms. And they could also use a magazine of thermals that attach on underside of the rifles like they do on modern rifles. 30 thermals per magazine. You never see Shepard reaching to grab a clip or magazine. It's just a hesitation, click, and you're good to go again. Sure it would change the look, but would make more sense and be easier to use, especially after seeing the size of the one that Zaeed tossed at Vido Santiago. But as Conrad said in ME3, if you're going to use thermals you might as well go back to conventional ammo.
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Post by Son of Dorn on Jun 8, 2021 22:06:43 GMT
By using lots and lots of dakka.
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Post by 14thcommander on Jun 10, 2021 14:02:14 GMT
I like ME3 weapons the best: you bring what you want and the modifications you make show on the gun. But, I wish you could change the colors or that the mods wouldn't change the color at all because some stuff was horrid and I like when my armor matches my guns.
Heavy/Special weapons.
Class-specific with bonuses and interesting customization options for each.
Also having thermal clips is meh, I like the ME1 heating system for every weapon.
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Post by RedCaesar97 on Mar 1, 2022 0:03:17 GMT
My opinions: <snip> That is all I can think of at the moment. It is late and I am tired, so I am not sure how coherent I am. I have been thinking about some of this for a while, but I am not sure I even agree with myself all the time. Maybe I will revisit this later. Replying months later to my own post, to provide my additional thoughts about weapons in the Mass Effect game. Firstly, I want to address a problem I have with the weapon set in ME3 and MEA (and to a much lesser extent ME2), where some weapons feel too similar to other weapons. Namely, the problem I have is when a weapon feels like an X version of Y weapon. For example: - In ME3, the Viper feels like a scoped version of the Saber (or the Crusader). - In MEA, the Sweeper feels like an overheat version of the Zalkin. I feel like removing weapon mods -- or some weapon mods like scopes -- as a feature would somewhat help in this regard. I also had an issue with some ME3 weapons that felt like they belonged in another category of weapons. For example, the Talon was just a shotgun in pistol form, and the Eagle was just an SMG masquerading as a pistol. I feel like each weapon should have its own identity. You can have categories of weapons (Pistols, SMGs, Shotguns, Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles), but then each category should have some general concepts that logically group the weapons together. So I figure I would go through a theoretical weapon set -- based on some of the existing weapons in the series. I am going to use the ME2 and ME3 categories of weapons. I will use Spoiler tags to avoid a long scrolling post, and to help group the weapon categories for easier viewing. PISTOLS: General rules: Sidearm weapon. Good against armor, poor against shields, good accuracy but poor stability.
ME2-style Predator: Decent clip size, decent damage. Moderate to good rate of fire. The ME2 predator kind of morphed into the ME3 Phalanx.
ME3-style Predator: Decent clip size, decent damage. Can fire as fast as you can pull the trigger. Less accurate than other pistols. Average damage to shields and barriers. (A good 1-2 starter weapons kit with an Avenger-style assault rifle.)
Carnifex: Small clip size, but big damage. Good with headshots.
Scorpion: Fires explosive projectiles that will stick to targets or surfaces, and then explode after a second. Small clip size. (In ME3, had some stagger/hitstun).
ME2-style Phalanx: No reticle, will activate a laser sight when zooming. Perhaps a stronger version of the Carnifex but with different aiming mechanics. (In ME2 had stagger/hitstun.) Could feature a smaller clip size and/or better headshot damage. Could tweak the fire rate/refire delay.
SUBMACHINE GUNS (SMGs): General rules: Sidearm weapon. Good against shields, poor against armor. Poor accuracy. (Variable stability?)
NOTE: I do not have a lot of SMGs here. Could maybe combine with Pistols to form a "Sidearm" category like MEA had a single "Pistols" category.
ME2-style Shuriken: Fires in 3-shot bursts. Poor accuracy. Moderate stability? Can be "pulsed" with no refire delay. Moderate clip size. Moderate damage. Moderate stability?
Tempest - ME2 style or modified ME2 style In ME2, the Tempest fired in 5-round bursts, or could be held for full auto. Accuracy degraded heavily after the first shot. Large clip size. Moderate damage. Options. 1. Could keep the ME2 style, but then it feels a little similar to how the Shuriken works. 2. Could modify it so it is full auto, but the accuracy degrades as normal (or a little less than ME2 normal), so you have to hold-hold-hold instead of press-press-press. This would differentiate it more from the Shuriken. If use option 2, then could include the Locust and make it option 1?
ME3-style Hurricane: Highly but predictably inaccurate. Large clip size. Good damage to make up for high inaccuracy (lots of missed shots against basic enemies).
ASSAULT RIFLES: General rules: Average against armor and shields. Moderate accuracy and stability.
Avenger: Moderate damage, stability, and accuracy. Reliable full-auto assault rifle. Obvious starter weapon. Needs to actually be decent in a Mass Effect game for once.
Vindicator: Mass Effect's battle rifle, fires in 3-round bursts. Good damage, especially with headshots, lower clip size for an assault rifle.
Mattock: Semi-auto assault rifle. Good damage with smaller clip size. I think it should be slightly less accurate than its ME2 or ME3 counterparts.
Revenant: In ME2, this gun just felt like a better Avenger. To give it its actual own identity, I think it should be more like the ME3 Typhoon (or MEA Cyclone), where it has good enough damage but with a ramping rate of fire. A "boss killer".
Geth Pulse Rifle: If the Geth are in the game, then the Geth Pulse Rifle should also be in the game. It needs to be a Geth equivalent of the Avenger. You need to differentiate it enough from the Avenger somehow. In ME2, it had a variable rate of fire (it would speed up and slow down), higher shield damage and lower armor damage. In the Legendary Edition of Mass Effect 1, it has a ramping rate of fire and no mod slots. In ME3, it was more accurate with a larger clip size. Maybe combine ME2 and ME3, where it has more stability and a little more accuracy than the Avenger, but less damage with a higher clip size, better against shields and not as good against armor.
Falcon: I like the idea of a "grenade launcher" as a weapon that does not take heavy ammo. Splash damage. Give it 4-7 clip size but with 0 spare clips. Picking up a spare clip adds +1 to the current clip size (but cannot exceed maximum clip size), unlike other weapons where a spare clip picks up one or more clips' worth of bullets. Maybe a charge-fire mode where charging the weapon will cause it to lock on to an enemy and then fire it like a rocket? (Or maybe the "missile launcher" can be a separate weapon?) Idea of this weapon is a powerful weapon meant to be used sparingly, like ME2's heavy weapons but it takes up another weapon slot. Could give it a lot of "weight" if weight capacity comes back. SNIPER RIFLES: General rules: Scoped "long range" weapons. Small clip sizes but big damage. Good against armor, but poor against shields. High headshot damage.
Mantis: One-shot one-kill sniper rifle. Needs to be able to kill the basic enemies on the highest difficulty with a headshot.
ME3-style Javelin: One-shot one-kill sniper rifle. Requires a brief charge before firing. More total damage than the Mantis. Maybe make it have clip size of 2 but fire both shots at once (and make it good against both shields and armor)?
ME2-style Viper: Semi-automatic sniper rifle. Good clip size for a sniper rifle. Cannot one-shot kill except maybe on the lowest difficulty setting.
Incisor, Indra, and MEA-style Raptor?: The Incisor was introduced in ME2 and fires in three-round bursts. It feels a bit like a scoped Vindicator, so I am not entirely sure of its role or if it should return. Is it supposed to be an anti-shield sniper rifle?
The Indra and MEA Raptor are automatic sniper rifles. As such, they kind of feel like scoped assault rifles. As stated previously, I do not like the idea of scoped versions of existing guns; it feels like lazy design (even if it is not), since it feels like a lazy way to make a new gun. Not sure if you would need only one or none. Indra has better stability but less accuracy, while the MEA Raptor has better accuracy but worse stability. Both versions would need about half the clip size of the Avenger.
Modified Widow: In ME2, it was just a better Mantis. In ME3 while it was stronger than the Mantis but had fewer shots, it still behaved like the Mantis though. Perhaps make it explode on impact dealing damage in a radius, but give it much less spare ammo to compensate? SHOTGUNS: General rules: Video-game style shotguns: high damage at close range.
ME2-style Katana: In ME2, you could get into an alternating shoot+melee rhythm. I would love to see this return.
ME2-style Scimitar: Automatic shotgun. More shots and faster fire rate than the Katana, but less damage. Maybe make it a cross between the ME2 Scimitar and ME3 Piranha?
Geth Plasma Shotgun: In ME2 and ME3, it fired three projectiles and could charge for more damage (about x3 damage for 2 shots). Could lean into the charge mechanic and reduce clip size to 4, or reduce clip size to 3 and have two levels of charge. Maybe take inspiration from the MEA Dhan and have the projectile(s) have limit range to keep it a short-range weapon. Charge could fire more projectiles (1 accurate projectile for uncharged shot, 2 or 3 inaccurate projectiles when charged).
Claymore: Clip size of 1. Very inaccurate but very damaging. Satisfyingly loud. Needs to be renamed from M800 Claymore to the 800M Claymore (BOOM!).
Reegar: Make this more of a trick shotgun that only works with special ammo equipped: - Disruptor Ammo: short-range electrical current (sort of what it looks like in ME3 and MEA) that deals higher damage to shields and can stun enemies (with % chance of chaining to nearby enemies?) - Incendiary Ammo: short-range flamethrower that deals higher damage to armor and can panic organic enemies - Cryo Ammo: short-range cryo blast similar to ME3MP Flash Freeze or shorter range MEA Cryo Beam that can freeze unprotected enemies
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2022 20:01:55 GMT
Revision after revision after revision of AI.
Don't scale the enemy's body, scale their brains.
Not as easy as it sounds, but would differentiate gameplay distinctly as the game progresses. Also allows for "Red Skull" level enemies in open world maps, just as dangerous (possibly moreso?)
I think about it like the difference between Reaper AI and Collector AI in ME3MP. It is clear the Collectors have the best gameplan, best coordinated attack. This is accomplished with their combatant mix, but also with some different behaviors. A Collector Captain is more dangerous than a Marauder, because he seems smarter in addition to his annoying powers.
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Atemporal Vanguardian-Debugger
N6
At sunrise there is the sunset.
To find the secrets of the universe: Think in terms of energy, frequency & VIBRATION -Nikola Tesla
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Shattered Steel, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR
Origin: NO. NEVER. AGAIN.
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Posts: 5,220 Likes: 5,079
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At sunrise there is the sunset.
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Atemporal Vanguardian-Debugger
To find the secrets of the universe: Think in terms of energy, frequency & VIBRATION -Nikola Tesla
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Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Shattered Steel, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR
NO. NEVER. AGAIN.
No.
No
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Post by Atemporal Vanguardian-Debugger on Mar 28, 2022 21:54:22 GMT
Keep ME2 AI or... ME3 AI but only if... They remove the dreaded MP component -I don't need that in my SP game. Keep ME3 weaponry. Add ME:A virticality.
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